($109, Shaw Ross):  You read it correctly, over $100 a bottle for rosé.  At Château d’Esclans, Sacha Lichine is aiming to take rosé to a new quality–and price–level.  A blend of roughly 2/3rds Grenache, exclusively from 80-year-old vines, and Rolle from similarly aged vines, the Garrus is a selection from the very best vineyards on the estate.  The winemaking is Burgundian: grapes are harvested by hand, de-stemmed and sorted twice.  Free run juice is vinified to dryness and aged in temperature controlled 500-liter casks for 8 months, where it undergoes bâtonage (stirring of the lees).  The result is a lively wine with an impeccable balance of wild red fruit-like flavors, nuances of spice, bright acidity and a subtle, but enveloping creaminess.  The wine’s elegance–it’s definitely not a hit-in the-face kind of wine–is most apparent in the lengthy finish.  Just when you think it’s gone, another wave of flavors wash over your palate.  Is it worth 100 bucks?  Only you and your banker know for sure. 92 Michael Apstein Sep 14, 2010